Autor: |
Lu H; Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany., Huang YC; Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, Konstanz 78464, Germany., Hunger J; Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany., Gebauer D; Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, Konstanz 78464, Germany.; Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, 30167 Hannover, Germany., Cölfen H; Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, Konstanz 78464, Germany., Bonn M; Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany. |
Abstrakt: |
Biomineralization occurs in aqueous environments. Despite the ubiquity and relevance of CaCO 3 biomineralization, the role of water in the biomineralization process has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate that water reorganization accompanies CaCO 3 biomineralization for sea urchin spine generation in a model system. Using surface-specific vibrational spectroscopy, we probe the water at the interface of the spine-associated protein during CaCO 3 mineralization. Our results show that, while the protein structure remains unchanged, the structure of interfacial water is perturbed differently in the presence of both Ca 2+ and CO 3 2- compared to the addition of only Ca 2+ . This difference is attributed to the condensation of prenucleation mineral species. Our findings are consistent with a nonclassical mineralization pathway for sea urchin spine generation and highlight the importance of protein hydration in biomineralization. |